Buffalo Creek Flood

Four decades ago, Edward Abbey's iconic novel "The Monkey Wrench Gang" served as a wake-up call to environmental activists. In it, self-appointed guardians of the Colorado River become so incensed by the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam that they conspire to detonate the massive 710- foot concrete structure. Although the dam remains intact, the sentiment behind removing the dam has since resurfaced. Both Lake Powell, the reservoir formed by the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Mead, located 300…

Breaking news, in Missoula Montana the ice dams ( An ice dam is a ridge of ice that forms at the edge of a glacier and prevents melting snow (water) from draining off) are breaking a flood has taken over cities and towns!! Lives are at risk .The flood waters (flood waters are water overflowing as the result of a flood) poured into Lake Columbia and made major spillways. Which those spillways created scablands. Scablands are flat elevated land deeply scarred by channels of glacial or…

A 100 and 500-year flood will create city-wide damage to residential, commercial, and municipal infrastructure. Fargo had many major floods that brought many properties, homes, and buildings submerged under water and created destruction. For instance, 1997 and 1897 Red River floods were the biggest floods that occurred in Fargo, North Dakota that flooded most of the city. After 1997, the government built stronger neighborhood and city dikes. Besides, each flooding warning, the government orders…

Los Angeles’ city officials have found a peculiar way to battle California’s infamously devastating drought. In order to preserve the Los Angeles reservoir, 96 million “shade balls” have been placed in the 175-acre reservoir. The balls were implemented to cool the water and provide shade. This helps fight the promotion of algae, bacterial growth, and chemical reactions that spread harmful substances. Created by LADWP biologist, Brian White, shade balls were inspired by “bird balls” used to…

flows into the Yarra River. This could result in a minute drop in quality of fauna and flora life, encouraging sediment sensitive animals to leave the area and attract sediment tolerant species. Furthermore, moderate deposition of sediment in Kestrel creek slightly hampers its ability to clean water and moderate deposition of sediment in the Yarra River decreases its quality and impacts on river…

extremely vulnerable to debris flows. Because the debris flows descend into highly populated areas, the city of Los Angeles has put forth numerous efforts to control debris flows and the impact they have on housing developments. The Los Angeles County Flood Control District (now titled Sedimentation Section of the Hydraulic Division of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works) is responsible for the safety of the eight million people that live below the mountains. In order to ensure…

Beavers are most well known for their distinctive home-building that can be seen in rivers and streams. The beavers dam is built from twigs, sticks, leaves and mud and are surprisingly strong. Here the beavers can catch their food and swim in the water. Beavers are nocturnal animals existing in the forests of Europe and North America (the Canadian beaver is the most common beaver). Beavers use their large, flat shaped tails, to help with dam building and it also allows the beavers to swim at…

On March 23, 1913, the United States was reminded of the awesome power of Mother Nature, resulting in the great flood of 1913 (Williams, 2013). Though the rain would begin to fall on Easter Sunday, March 23, (And would fall for three days straight) by Monday – even after the local newspaper the Piqua Leader Dispatch reported the “Great Miami River will reach flood stage by nightfall” - those living in the lowest lying areas of the city would ignore the warnings. Why? Area historian and author…

There’s only one animal besides humans that can build a dam, the beaver. The beaver is a very exceptional mammal because it can create, modify, and control its habitat. Beavers typically inhabit the northern hemisphere, but have also been introduced in South America’s Tierra del Fuego (Cavendish). Beavers are the second largest rodents in the world and have many similar relatives such as the nutria (Cavendish). The main characteristic of a beaver’s habitat is its dam. A dam allows the beaver to…

Throughout all of history water and culture have been incredibly interlinked. Since the beginning of settled life, humans have almost always recognized that settling by a body of clean usable water is necessary. Over time this need began to give birth to a deep respect for rivers, lakes and streams. Because water is such a critical element of life it was worshipped and appreciated for thousands of years by almost all cultures of the past. It has been a source of power and inspiration for…